Trigger Trapped
by bompeii
Summary: He froze, not even a step inside the room. Her tone was deadly serious, and her voice shook a little when she shouted his name. Shawn quickly became aware of the gravity of the situation.     Juliet was scared. No, she was terrified. But why?


This is strongly based off of an episode of NCIS: Los Angeles.

Disclaimer: I officially disclaim. I don't own Psych, NCIS: LA's plots, or anything else besides this old pair of shoes. Aw, darn. They just ran away from me.

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><p>"Jules?"<p>

Shawn and Gus walked slowly around the corner of the courtyard halls. Well, they didn't walk so much as they "crept", slinking tightly along the walls like they were playing a game of Floor is Lava.

Shawn was grateful his best friend stuck by his side through this. Gus never would've heard the end of his wrath if he'd decided to stay cooped up safely under a table somewhere, avoiding the gunfire.

Speaking of which, loud popping sounds could be heard echoing in the air around the coliseum, disturbing a flock of nearby birds into cawing like maniacs. If Shawn had the time to look around more thoroughly, he might've taken the chance to appreciate being in such a fancy private-owned building. Alas, he was a little busy trying to find his girlfriend, who had been taken hostage by Russian mafia members over two hours ago and could be in any kind of condition by now.

"Pick up the pace, Gus!" Shawn hissed at his friend, walking faster so he was now in the lead.

"These are not the right Jackal-Switch shoes, Shawn," Gus complained, but nonetheless treaded quicker than before.

"Juliet!" Shawn whisper-called, instinctively ducking down when a particular gunshot sounded a little too loud and close for his liking. "Jules, are you around here?"

_"Shawn?"_

He stopped short, ignoring Gus bumping into him from behind. The voice was muffled, but it was definitely nearby. And it was definitely Juliet.

The fake psychic faced a white door that he almost missed, even with his sharp observational skills, as it blended in with the wall like camouflage. Taking a deep breath, he nearly tore the door off its hinges when he pulled it open.

"Juliet?"

"Shawn, STOP!"

He froze, not even a step inside the room. Her tone was deadly serious, and her voice shook a little when she shouted his name. Shawn quickly became aware of the gravity of the situation. Juliet was scared. No, she was terrified. But why?

Peering inside, he could see her as clear as day. Physically, she looked okay, thank God, aside from the heavy downpour of sweat layering her pretty, tan face. Dark blond strands of hair had fallen out of her neat bun from earlier and were now plastered to her forehead and neck. She was breathing kind of heavily, too, but not quite hyperventilating.

"Juliet?" Gus said tentatively. She was worrying him almost as much as she was freaking Shawn out. After all, she hadn't rushed to meet them once they opened the door; she stayed where she stood, as if rooted to the spot near the back of the medium sized, empty room. Her wide, horrified stare upon watching how close Shawn came to walking into the room disturbed him greatly.

"Jules, are you alright?" her boyfriend asked softly.

The detective took a deep breath before replying. "Switch off the lights."

Brow furrowing in confusion, Shawn reached into the room slowly and flicked the light switch off.

And it all suddenly became crystal clear.

As soon as the lights went dark, at least a dozen or so red beams blinked into appearance, crisscrossing around the room like in a spy movie. Gus's mouth nearly dropped to the floor, but Shawn's lips pressed into a thin, concerned line.

"Okay…" he drawled, his own breath becoming shaky as realizations plunged into his brain. "Now we know why you aren't moving." He noted how she stood stiff as a board, stuck between four sets of laser beams. "It's not like a disco ball kinda thing, is it?" he commented, observing for the first time the small round half-spheres spread all along the walls, high and low, which originated the beams. He should've seen them before, but his focus was entirely on Juliet at the time.

"They're triggers," Juliet explained. Shawn met her gaze and didn't dare look away, his breath catching in his throat at what she said next.

"Break the beam, and the explosives detonate."

"Explosives?" Gus choked out. Shawn spotted the starting signs of one of his friend's infamous flip-out sessions and dove into action.

"Buddy, you're not helping," Shawn whispered, pulling his friend further away from the door for safety.

"Shawn, you know how I feel around bombs. They terrify me!" Gus's breathing began to hasten.

"_You?_" Shawn hissed incredulously. "How do you think Juliet feels, being trapped inside there? This is serious, buddy. No joking around here. Jules's life is on the line, and I need you to do one of two things. Either calm down and help me out, or get the hell away from here so I can think!"

Gus opened and shut his mouth several times, for once put at a loss for what to say at Shawn's solemn words. His best friend glared at him for another second before turning back to his girlfriend.

"Jules? How're you doing?"

A bitter chuckle escaped her, but no smile accompanied it. Not even a fake one. "Just peachy," she answered sarcastically. But then her voice turned to a pleading tone Shawn wished he never heard again. "Shawn … I'm _tired._ I've been standing here in this same exact position for what feels like forever now."

"Two hours and seventeen minutes, to be precise," Gus threw in unnecessarily. Shawn scowled at him again.

"Dude! Seriously _not_ helping!" he barked. "Just … go find Lassie. Tell them to get a bomb squad. I'll stay here with Juliet."

"What?" Gus exclaimed. "Shawn, you must be out of your damn mind! Lassiter is in the middle of a shootout with deadly Russian mafia guys!"

"Then go wait for him to be done," Shawn said, pushing Gus away. His eyes abruptly softened as he implored further. "Please, Gus. You're panicking, and it isn't helping my already scared girlfriend. Just go find a safe spot, wait until there's three minutes between shots fired, and then go find Lassie."

Gus hesitated a moment longer, but with another look at his friend, he nodded mutely and quickly took his leave.

"Shawn…" Juliet's quivering voice stole away Shawn's attention again. "I can't … I can't wait for a bomb squad. Shawn, I can't stand here any longer." The desperation in her voice made Shawn want to kill whoever did this to his girl and hold her in a warm, comforting embrace at the same time.

"Please, _please_ do something," she added. And that was the last straw.

"Okay. Hey, it's okay, Jules. Don't worry," he reassured her, smiling wanly. "Let's just … let's go with Plan B."

Juliet took a shuddering breath and released it slowly. "'Kay. What's Plan B?"

Shawn looked at her sheepishly. "I'm working on it."

A light, disbelieving scoff escaped her as she watched Shawn's mental clockwork shift gears. His eyes flickered over every inch of the room, lingering on the little domes sticking out of the walls for a little while longer.

More gunshots could be heard in the distance, but they were very faint and few in-between.

The sounds struck a memory in Shawn's mind as his thoughts briefly flickered over to Lassiter. With an air of reluctant triumph, he reached deep into his pockets and pulled out a small cylindrical device. It was the laser pointer that attached to Lassiter's gun to help with aim from far distances. Shawn had swiped it from him earlier that morning, and then forgot it was in his pocket.

Until now, that is.

It didn't occur to him whether or not the Head Detective would need it right about now.

"What are you going to do with that?" Juliet asked, watching nervously as Shawn fiddled with the little device, trying to get a good grip on its metallic surface.

Shawn met her gaze again as he explained. "They're laser triggers," he said, gesturing at the red beams making a zigzag pattern between them. "If the collectors are receiving light at just the right frequency, it won't register the beam as being broken."

Juliet stared, a little awestruck. "_This_ is Plan B? How do you even know all that, anyway?"

"I have my ways, Juliet," Shawn joked weakly, trying to lighten the fog of fear.

"Okay," she relented, nodding slightly. "Okay. You've … seen this being done before, right, Shawn?"

"Yeah. Well, I mean, kind of. Not exactly, you know … it was… I read it in a book once. Very helpful." Shawn looked up again to see a look of sheer uncertainty on Juliet's face. "We can still wait for Gus and Lassiter, if you want to. The Bomb Squad won't be far behind, either. I'm sure."

"Just…" she let the sentence trail, but Shawn saw the meaning behind her expression and unspoken words. He nodded.

"Alright," he confirmed. From his angle in the doorway, Shawn lifted his left arm and held it over his face like he was coughing into the crook of his elbow. With his opposing hand he held the laser pointer in place on his arm, right near his eyes, and took aim at the farthest laser dome.

"This one," Juliet offered, pointing to the red beam that was right in front of her.

"Okay," Shawn breathed, switching positions to seek out the source. He inhaled deeply before pressing the button. A lime green light, contrasting greatly against its crimson companions, beamed into the dome. After a few seconds, he gave a quiet call of confirmation. Juliet slowly, almost painfully so, lifted up her left foot and stepped over the beam that blocked her ankles. Sweat drizzled down her neck as she followed the action with her other foot, only daring to breathe again when she was safely across.

"Nice," Shawn whispered, flicking off the pointer and aiming at a different collector. He turned it back on, and a second later Juliet was moving forward again. At a measured pace, she leaned backwards and carefully turned her body, rotating it underneath the red beam.

It was like she was doing sideways limbo.

"Oh… You have got to be kidding me," Shawn mumbled, watching with fascination as she bent even further backwards at a ninety-degree angle before coming back to a stiff stand on the other side of the laser. Juliet heaved a quiet sigh of relief, and Shawn just stared at her.

"What?" she asked, the ghost of a smirk on her face. "You knew I was flexible."

"Yeah, but… not _that_ flexible."

Juliet rolled her eyes, but her light-heartedness fell apart when she reminded herself about the explosives. "That one," she said, nodding at the small dome in the top right corner of the wall facing her. Unfortunately, it was the wall Shawn was standing next to.

Not willing to risk leaning further into the room and possibly breaking a beam, Shawn did his best to reach the dome with his green laser. But no matter what he did, he couldn't touch it. The angle was impossible.

"I can't get it," he admitted in defeat, turning the pointer off and facing Juliet. "As much as I hate to say it, I think you're gonna have to do this one yourself, Jules."

For a long moment, she looked horror-stricken, her eyes welling up with moisture influenced by fear. Shawn watched with a sick feeling of helplessness as she pulled herself together, cleared her throat quietly, and very slowly dropped down to the floor. Her face was blank, her mind completely entranced on the task at hand.

"Easy…" Shawn breathed, more to himself than to Juliet. The beam in question was about a foot and a half above the ground, too close to other lasers above it for Juliet to step over. So she had to go underneath.

Turning over onto her stomach, she carefully slid her legs one by one underneath the thin red line. A second of hesitation had Shawn catching his breath, his thoughts betraying him into thinking she was stuck or frozen in fear.

"Jules?" he squeaked, but just as he did so she moved again, lifting her rear end up into the air. Her back was scarily close to touching the beam, but as if she sensed the danger she was in, Juliet sucked in her stomach and ducked down lower, which in turn thrusted her butt higher up in the air.

Despite the situation, Shawn couldn't help but stare open-mouthed at the view. It was maybe a good thing she wasn't wearing a skirt today.

An agonizingly slow ten seconds later, and Juliet had managed to slide all the way under the beam. She rose to a stand once again and adjusted her shirt, which had ridden up her stomach. "Okay," she breathed in relief, grinning a little at Shawn's captivated expression. "I'm okay. Just one more to go."

Shawn blinked out of his trance and wiped away ill-timed thoughts, suddenly noticing how close Juliet was. She was only a couple of feet away from him now, close enough to touch with outstretched arms. Shawn grinned a little at her in return and sought out the source of the final beam keeping them from each other.

His heart dropped when he realized it derived from a collector on the same wall as the last one, only on the other side of the door. There was no way he would be able to reach it. Shawn stared back at Juliet, the hopeless expression written on her face revealing to him that she came to the same conclusion.

"Now what?" she whispered. "We're so close, Shawn."

"I know," he said back, nodding. He smiled palely as the worst idea possible entered his mind. "I know," he repeated, more strength in his voice. "And I'll get you out of here. I promise." With that said, he carefully held out his arms in front of him, hands open and palms facing up. It was an invitation.

Juliet caught on immediately. "Are you sure?" she asked, gulping visibly through a dry throat.

"Absolutely not," Shawn answered, but moved his hands closer to her nonetheless. If this ended badly, then at least he would be with the person he loved more than anything in this world when it did.

Juliet closed her eyes for a moment and let out a weary sigh. When she reopened them, they were resigned. No, they were determined. She reached forward and grasped Shawn's hands with her own, clenching to them tightly. They were her lifelines, her connection to hope. He was the reason she would even risk something like this.

For what felt like a lifetime, they just stood there and stared at one another, embracing each other's gazes and showing rather than saying their deepest emotions. Hazel burned into blue with a fierce love neither ever knew had existed between them until this point.

"On three," Shawn said, reluctantly breaking their trance. "You ready?"

Juliet nodded, taking a deep breath.

"One…" Shawn whispered.

A drop of sweat rolled down the side of his face.

"Two…" Juliet breathed.

She squeezed her eyes tightly shut.

A second passed them by where time felt frozen in place and untouchable. But it was only a second.

_"Three!" _

Shawn pulled Juliet towards him with all the strength he could muster, enveloping her smaller form in his arms and jumping backwards. Juliet could practically feel it when her torso cut across the red beam – a light burning sensation, almost a tingle.

What came next was definitely not a tingle.

_**BOOOOOM!**_

The room detonated into a burst of flames and black explosion, the force of it shoving the couple several feet into the air. It sent them flying backwards, two forms locked in a single embrace that never wavered in strength. Smoke and debris showered around them, raining down in every direction.

Shawn landed with a cracking smack against the concrete ground, a few feet short of smashing into the wall behind them. Juliet tucked her head into his chest and clung to his shoulders with shaking fists. His hands covered her protectively against the falling wreckage, one wrapped around her shoulders while the other sheltered the back of her head.

A good minute passed like this, the pair of them unmoving, eyes pinched and breath caught in lungs. The sound of the vicious fire cackling from the room Juliet had occupied merely moments ago filled the air, but it was hard to hear over the ringing in their ears.

In that same minute, the cavalry arrived.

"Shawn?"

The call went unregistered, but footsteps thundered against the ground as Gus, Lassiter, and several other policemen rushed towards the scene. They were still several yards away when Gus shouted again.

"Oh, God… Juliet! Shawn! Are you okay? _Shawn!_"

"O'Hara, status!" Lassiter joined in the yelling, disturbed by the stillness of their forms as they approached closer. "O'Hara! Spencer! Answer me, goddammit! What's your status?"

They were about fifteen feet away when Juliet finally lifted her head and cracked her eyes open. A breathless smile glowed on her soot-smeared face as she stared down at Shawn, who had peeled back his own lids and was now looking up at her. He lifted one hand and pushed back her now loose blond hair behind her ear and out of her face.

"We're good," Shawn called out, once he caught his breath again. The footsteps slowed as the worried crowd spotted signs of life. Gus's sigh of relief was audible even from a distance. "Are you okay?" Shawn asked to Juliet in a quiet voice.

Still gasping slightly, she replied with three short, simple words.

"I gotta pee."

Shawn grinned, chuckling slightly at the absurdity. "I think I just did," he said back, and Juliet let out a quiet laugh before laying her head back down on Shawn's chest. She nuzzled her face into her boyfriend's neck and closed her eyes, silently thanking the universe for finding such a selfless soul to share her life with.

She didn't even care that everyone was watching them as she placed a small kiss on his collarbone. Apparently, neither did Shawn as he returned the favor, pressing his lips to the top of her head.

For the first time in the last two and a half hours, Juliet was happy.

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><p>Thanks for reading! Please review!<p> 


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